Old Fourth Ward/Inman Park Transportation Strategy Adopted

TSW’s Krog-Lake-Elizabeth-North Highland Transportation Strategy was introduced to Atlanta City Council by Kwanza Hall and approved 13-0 by Council on May 5th as a supplement to the Connect Atlanta Transportation Plan. The strategy was sponsored by Councilman Hall to bring together area residents, businesses, and property owners, as well as various City of Atlanta departments, to create a proactive transportation plan for the area that focuses on the needs of all users, neighborhood quality of life, and deep respect for the historic nature of Inman Park and the Old Fourth Ward.

The strategy proposes accessibility and mobility enhancements that look beyond just moving as many cars through the area as rapidly as possible. Rather, the strategy considers the reciprocal relationship between transportation, quality of life, neighborhood character, sustainability, and more. With this in mind, it strives for a transportation system that:

Supports communities, places, and the role of transportation facilities as public spaces

Attracts and sustains economic activity

Maximizes transportation choices

Respects neighborhood character

Emphasizes walking as a form of neighborhood transportation

Creates harmony among transportation networks

General recommendations that achieve these principles include:

“Shared spaces”

Neighborhood traffic calming

Pedestrian facilities

Bicycle facilities

Intersection traffic improvements

Commercial area parking management

BeltLine accessibility

Wayfinding signs

The strategy is notable in that it recommends the creation of Atlanta’s first modern “shared spaces.” The goal of shared space is to improve the safety and vitality of streets, particularly ones with high levels of pedestrian and bicycle traffic, by encouraging negotiation of shared areas between different street users. Shared space minimizes demarcations between vehicles, bicyclists, and pedestrians – thereby reducing the dominance of motor vehicles and enabling all users to share the space. Shared spaces are proposed for portions of Irwin Street/Lake Avenue and Elizabeth Street.

With the strategy’s adoption, neighbors, City staff and officials, and all of the developers in the area have an overall plan to follow as funding sources are sought to implement recommendations.